Sun Yongning was scolded by Emperor Yuanfeng and was so angry that when he came out of the Qinzheng Hall, he felt that everyone was mocking him.
After taking a deep breath, Lord Sun angrily returned to the Ministry of War. When he entered the signing room, he saw Yuan Cheng, the chief clerk of the Armory Department, and others waiting in fear. He ignored them and sat down directly. When he touched the teacup, he found that even the tea was cold. He immediately couldn't help but get angry: "Sun An, where have you been? Are you going to freeze your master to death?!"
Nowadays, all officials have their own close attendants, especially those at his level. Many of the attendants they bring with them are their own family servants. This has become a common practice in official circles.
After he cursed like that, everyone fell silent.
Sun An outside came in hurriedly, lowered his head and went outside to fetch hot water to make new tea.
In fact, everyone knows that Sun An just followed Sun Yongning back. Sun Yongning's outburst was not aimed at Sun An at all, but was just an indirect accusation.
Yuan Cheng and the others looked at each other, all afraid of being implicated. After a while, they pushed each other and slowly pushed Yuan Cheng out. Yuan Cheng smiled and asked Sun Yongning: "Minister, what is this..."
"What is this? Don't you guys know it?!" Sun Yongning sneered, and the teacup in his hand fell out with a bang, breaking into pieces at the feet of everyone, causing everyone to change their faces. Sun Yongning also knew that although the officials here had lower positions than himself, in terms of history and backing, no one was a freeloader. However, he had endured this for too long, and today he could not endure it any longer.
"What's going on?" Sun Yongning exerted too much force and his wrist was accidentally swung with a slight snapping sound. He felt a sharp pain at that moment, which made him even more irritable. He said coldly, "Don't think that everything will be fine after Qiu An's death. For the delivery and handover of the Equipment Department, do we only need to go through Qiu An? Who do you think are fools?! If you are smart, explain this matter clearly as soon as possible, otherwise, no one will get away with it!"
After being scolded, Yuan Cheng and the others stopped being cautious. When their eyes met, they all pretended to be silent tacitly.
Qiu An is dead anyway, so if you want to implicate someone else, that’s fine, but just produce evidence.
But who can provide evidence
The evidence had long been burned.
Sun Yongning's eyes became even darker.
Yuan Cheng and others stood there for a while, then left with an excuse and went out. Yuan Cheng then went to see Wen Runze, the Deputy Director of the Armory Department.
As soon as he entered the room, he frowned and said, "Old Wen, you have caused us so much trouble! Do you know that the Minister almost executed us on the spot just now?"
Wen Runze was reviewing official documents. Hearing this, he sighed and said without even looking up, "Come on, you are as slippery as a loach. He didn't hold any evidence against you, so how could he do anything to you? I think it's you who has made the minister very angry, right?"
The door creaked shut. Yuan Cheng laughed loudly twice, sat opposite him and looked at the firearm document he signed to Fujian. After laughing, he shook his head seriously: "That's what I said, but you don't know how worried I am! We are subordinates after all. If we don't give face to the minister, are we afraid that we will have a hard time in the future?"
Wen Runze chuckled.
Yuan Chengli coughed and pushed him: "I know you are not afraid. Lord Zheng is Lord Xu's favorite disciple, but the people under us..."
"What else can we do about this?" Wen Runze was not panicked at all: "Just put your mind at ease. You won't suffer any loss. At most, I can help you change your position, but haven't you wanted to move for a long time? At most, you can go to the brick factory for a while. Officials outside are much richer than those in our capital, right?"
The two looked at each other, and Yuan Cheng's eyes lit up: "Can it really work?"
Wen Runze smiled but said nothing.
After a while, he saw that it was time to leave the court, so he patted Yuan Cheng on the shoulder, went back home to change his clothes, and then asked for a carriage to go out and go to Juhai Manor.
In Juhai Manor, after passing a long stretch of houses, he went up the stairs and crossed the second-floor flying bridge. He saw many dancers and singers already waiting outside the flying bridge for guests to call him.
A waiter led him inside. Seeing him looking back at the girls frequently, he laughed and said, "Master Wen, this batch of girls were all selected from Mindi. There are also several Oirans selected by Mindi. Let them come up for you to see and see if there is any one you like."
Wen Runze smiled and said nothing. By the time he reached the third floor, he had regained his mature and steady appearance.
The door to the third floor was opened. Xu Chong was drinking tea inside. When he saw him coming, he didn't even raise his head: "You guys are really amazing! You caused such a big disaster."
Wen Runze was a completely different person in front of him. He hurried forward and laughed along, "Master, we are also here to teach the Song family a lesson. Seeing that they are becoming more and more arrogant... We were angry for a moment, but who knew that the Song family would not tolerate any loss and deliberately made a big fuss during the competition, clearly to embarrass us and teach us a lesson. They are used to being so powerful, and now that they have the support of the eldest grandson of the emperor, they are even more arrogant, and their tails are so high up..."
Wen Runze observed Xu Chong's expression and knew that he was not angry, so he sat down next to Xu Chong, raised his hand to pour tea for Xu Chong, and said softly: "Master, look at how arrogant they are! Now the eldest grandson of the emperor is still the eldest grandson of the emperor, but they are already so reckless. When that day comes, won't the Song family trample us into the mud? The matter of Hu Jianbang..."
Xu Chong gave him a cold look.
Wen Runze lowered his voice even more: "Master, let's forget about the Song family's affairs. Now I have to explain to Minister Sun."
He respectfully held the tea and handed it to Xu Chong. Seeing the table full of delicacies, Xu Chong did not move at all, so he clapped his hands. The people serving outside came in hurriedly, cleared away all the dishes on the table, and immediately replaced them with another table of dishes.
Wen Runze personally picked up a piece of puffer fish for Xu Chong with chopsticks and said with a smile: "Sir, try this. I specially went to Suzhou to hire a chef at a high price. Only he can completely remove the poison of this puffer fish and make such a delicacy. I know you like it, so I asked my subordinates to search for it for a long time."